Article dispensing system



March 16, 1954 T. s. SKILLMAN ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM 16 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed May 15 Tfiomcw 8. illmom March 16, 1954 T. s. SKILLMAN 2,572,289

ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Original Filed May 13, 1949 16 Sheets-Sheet 2 [avenlor Thomas '15. Skillman v WW4 M W Mllovneys March 1 1954 T. s. SKILLMAN 2,672,289

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MitorneyS March F6, 1954 T. s. SKILLMAN 2,672,289

ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Original F ed May 13, 1949 16 Sheets-Sheet 5 Tfiomas 151495 illzzz an 9 WQWZ & W

March 16, 1954 1s. SKILLMAN 2,672,289

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ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM )riginal Filed May 15, 1949 16 Sheets-Sheet l5 [nvenfor March 16, 1954 "r. s. SKILLMAN ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM 16 Sheets-Sheet 14 Original Filed May 13, 1949 Invent-0r ASKS/ 111222011 T/zomas y Hy, 9b

March 16, 1954 T. s. SKILLMAN 2,672,289

ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Original Filed May 15, 1949 16 Sheets-Sheet 15 Fig.5 By. 6

By; Fig.5a Eg.4

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Patented Mar. 16, 1954 2,672,289 F I CE 2,672,289 ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Thoma S, Skillmali, Mosman,

Australia, Limited,

South Wales, gineering Pty.

near Sydney. New assigno'r to Punch En- New South Wales, Australia, a company of New South Wales Original application May 1'3,

1949, Serial No.

93,206. Divided and this application June 7, 1951, Serial No. 230,272

Claims priority, application Australia February 24, 1945 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a system for dispensing articles of various character from storage.

This application is a divisionof myco -pendingapplication Serial No. 93,206, filed May 13, 1949, now Patent No. .,657,858, which latter in turn is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending parent application Serial No. 643,945, filed January 28, 1946 and now Patent No. 2,627,941.

It is an object of the invention to provide means whereby required quantities of different kinds of articles such as those constituting the stock of a shop or store may be automatically or semi-automatically dispensed from shelves or bins upon or in which they have been stacked or otherwise pre-arranged or grouped.

Each kind of article in the stock is allotted some characteristic code which identifies it, such as a sequence or combination of digits or letters or both and when this kind oi article isrequired, keys or other electrical contacts are operated in accordance with this code to-establish an electrical circuit which thereupon operates a releasing device associatedwith anarticle-holding device for the required kind of article and causes the required quantity thereof to be released from the storage position on to a conveying ordistributing mechanism by which it is delivered to a receptacle, wrapping counter or other desired destination. Each of said article-holding devices comprises a movable member on which said articles stand or lie and means operated by said electrical circuit to move the movable member so that each article in turn is brought mto a position whereit moves away from the remaining articles by the action of gravity. In this manner selections of required articles from avery large number of different kinds of articles can be rapidly carried out and the usual process whereby storemen, or shop assistants walkaround-an'd collect articles from shelves or bins is eliminated.

A registering and indicating device can-be associated with the aforesaid devices whereby a record of the kindyquantity and/or value of the articles collected is recorded. This record in the form of a ticket is delivere d with thearticles and shows the total price which the customer has to pay.

The stock canbe lOcatedi'in'ap sition remote from the operating devicea'whereby the use of expensive shop frontsatter storage is avoided. For example, a small fronted shopcontains the operation position and delivery position and-the articles are brought automatically by conveyor from a store located at a remote point, such as the back yard or an'upper storey where storage costs are much-"less.

The release of the articles on to the conveyor system can be effected by means of a magnetic clutch, which is energised as part of said electrical circuit and causes a continuously moving member such as a rotating shaft to move the articles forward so that the foremost article topples under the action of gravity on to the conveying system. During its fall it operates an electrical contact mechanism which causes the de-energisation of said magnetic clutch and thus the cessation of the forward movement of the article s.

When a pluralityof articles of the same kind have to be releasedrthe aforesaid electrical contact when operated by the falling articles is caused to intervvork with a counting mechanism, said counting device being set to the required number whereby articles continue to be released until' the counting mechanism is counted out.

It is a feature of the invention storing devices wherebythe codes indicative of the required articles can be stored and thus a number of difierent batches of articles may be set up irrespective of whether the releasing and/or conveying mechanism is ready to handle them. In this manner the same conveying and releasing mechanism can be used to convey different batches, these being separated by the time at which they enter the conveying system.

Itis another feature of the invention to combine'the' previously mentioned registering and indicating device with the code-storing devices to indicate and record thevalue of articles, the code of which has been stored in the code-storing devices.

Further features of theinvention will be apparent from the description given below in connection with the drawings showing one particular embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically a layout of the article dispensing system.

Fig. 2 shows details of the bin or shelf arrangement with the release mechanism.

Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b give details of the clutch mechanism used for the arrangement shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 and Fig. 3a are cuits for the selection diagrams showing the cirand release of articles.

Fig. 4 gives schematically the connections for a. registering and indicating device used in connection with a system operatedinaccordance with the electrical circuits as shown in Figs. 3 and 3a.

Fig; 5 gives details for an arrangement to distribute various batches of articlesto a plurality of receptacles.

Fig: 6 shows diagrammatically the arrangement to provide codeof a plurality of key sets and code-storing devices and the connections with an arrangement as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 and Fig. 7a show the circuit diagram for a code-storing device.

Fig. 8 and Fig. Ba show diagrammatically the arrangement for the selection of a plurality of articles of the same kind by the operation of quantity keys.

Figs. 9, 9a, 9b and 90 give details of the displaceable guide member for the distribution of articles into various receptacles as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 shows an example of the layout of a shop using an article dispensing system according to the invention.

Fig. 11 shows how the various drawings fit together to complete the electrical circuits.

The system as shown in the layout of Fig. 1 provides for an operators position, a. selecting relay group and a shelf arrangement which contains the necessary mechanism for the dispensing of the articles together with conveyor means to transport the articles to the wanted localities. A registering and indicating device can be added if required. As the operators position is only electrically connected with the shelf storage arrangement of the articles to be dispensed, this shelf arrangement can be separately placed from the operators position and thus, for example, the operators position can be located on the ground floor of a shop, while the storage arrangement itself including the article-holding devices is located at an upper floor, an adjacent building or in any other locality. In this case the selected articles are transported to the shop by suitable conveying means.

Furthermore, it is possible to locate the stock in a central store and to transfer orders from outlying offices to the store where they can be picked up after completion.

The stock numbers in the latter case can be transmitted by any known method of code or number transmission.

The selection of articles from the operators position can be made by a shop assistant, or the customer himself may operate the mechanism to select his own goods.

The article dispensing system can be arranged for example as shown in Fig. 10. A shop II8 has next to its entrance II9 show cases I which display the various kinds of articles on sale through the dispensing system and give their individual code or stock numbers. The counter I2I is divided between the operators position with the keyboard I and the delivery counter I22. The articles selected at the keyboard are released from the shelf arrangement I24 at the back of the shop and are then transported via conveyors 9, chutes III and conveyor II to the delivery counter I22. The necessary relays and other auxiliary devices for the system are arranged at the side of the shop as indicated at 1 and a printing device I A can be so arranged that tickets showing the price of selected articles will be forwarded together with the articles themselves via conveyor II. At the back of the shelf arrangement I24 is the bulk store I23, in which the articles are stored before they are put into the various shelves.

Returning to Fig. 1 the operators position comprises a key set I which consists of a number of rows of ten keys as indicated at 2. Each row of ten keys is used for the selection of one hundred shelves, the number of rows of keys thus being dependent on the number of shelf groups comprising one hundred shelves each. At the end of each row of keys are arrangeda busy" lamp 3, a no stock lamp 4 and a canoe key 5. A further key 6 which is pressed whenever an order is completed is common to all the rows of keys. The functions of these keys and lamps will be described later on in detail.

The key set I is connected electrically via cable I21, the selecting group I containing the necessary relays and cable I28 with a shelf arrangement I24 in which the articles to be dispensed are stored. Each article-holding device (shelf or bin) marked by a square 8 contains one kind of article and associated with each horizontal row of bins are travelling belts 9 which run continuously driven by an electric motor I25 to collect the articles discharged from the horizontal rows of bins and transfer them to a wanted locality. Each article operates a trip contact I8 when it parts from its shelf. In the schematic layout of Fig. 1 the articles slide down chutes Ill and from there to a common conveyor belt II, travelling over a roller I2, to a delivery counter (not shown).

Each shelf is fitted with a storage belt I5 on which the articles are stored and all these belts can be connected individually by a release and clutch arrangement 23, 26 with a common driving shaft Ii, driven by a motor I26 which drives also the common conveyor II.

Details of the belt and clutch arrangement to release articles from the shelves are shown in Figs. 2, 2a and 2b and will be described later on.

According to the invention a codeor numbering-storing device I3 is inserted between the key set I and the selecting group 'I and a registering and indicating device I4 can be added to print the code or stock number of the selected items and record their respective values.

When the operator receives the stock list giving the stock number of the articles required and the quantity of each of them, she keys the stock number on the key set and thereby operates the release mechanism associated with the corresponding bin.

The stock number or code consists of a preliminary digit or letter telling the operator which row of keys to select and is followed by two further digits representing a particular bin in one group of a hundred bins chosen by the preliminary digit. These latter two digits are pressed by the operator in succession 0n the selected row of keys. In the following description these latter two digits are referred to as the first and the second digit.

The articles selected and released from the bins fall on to a travelling belt 9 and from there down a chute It on to the common conveyor belt II, which carries the articles to the delivery counter.

Details of the bin or shelf arrangement and release mechanism are shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 2a and Fig. 217. Each bin 8 of the bin arrangement I24 is fitted with a movable belt I5 upon which the articles stand or lie as indicated by the articles I6. The movable belt which is normally stationary can be driven by a clutch mechanism from a continuously rotating shaft II when the release mechanism of this particular bin is Operated as described in detail later on. In this case the belt I5 moves forward until the foremost article IE is brought into a position where it overbalances and thus moves away from the remaining articles by the action of gravity.

The released article falls down on to the conveyor belt 9 which runs along a horizontal row ing the articles of bins over roller 74, to transfer the articles to chute It. While falling down from belt ['5 each article actuates a trip lever l8. This triplever l8 operates contacts I 9, 20, 21 and '22 which amongst other functions interrupts 'at Contact 22 the circuit of the previously operated release mechanism thus stopping further movement of the belt l5. It must be understood, however, that the stoppage of the belt can alternatively be performed by a contact "at the belt itself or by a separate timing device, although the preferred arrangement is that described wherein the articles themselves operate the release contact.

The clutch mechanism itself magnet 2-3 which operates a pair of contact springs 24 through a lever 25. Lever 25 is rotatably mounted and has two arms, one of them engaging the contact springs as, the other arm engaging a flexible tooth wheel 2'! mounted on the roller which drives the belt IS. A projection 25a on lever 25 acts as armature for the magnet 23. Connected with the continuously rotating shaft I l is a tooth wheel 26 which can mesh with the flexible wheel 2?. flexible wheel 2"! out of gear with the wheel 2i;

electrical circuits shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 3a, the projection 25a (Figs. 2a and 2b) of lever 25 is attracted, thus shifting the leverzs against the force of spring 28 and closing the contact '2- 3, which prepares another circuit for the magnet 23 via contact 22 (Fig. 2) and lead 31. time the other from the flexible wheel 21 so 7 that the wheels 2G and 21 engag thus driving the belt Iii and bringle (Fig. 2) stored thereon to a they topple over to the collecting One release mechanism consisting of position where belt 9.

runs up at the rear ofthe bins the belts in one and drives all vertical row of bins.

The trip contact mechanism operated by trip lever [B (Fig. 2), is operated whenever an "article l6 leaves the storage belt l and topples over to the common conveyor belt 9. The lever I 8 operates a contact pack or pile-up consisting of the contacts [9, 2s, 2| and 22 as mentioned above. The contact 22 is a break contact which interrupts the circuit from lead 31 to magnet 23 (which was previously operated over lead 34 and held over its own contact 24). The magnet '23 releases lever 25 which returns to its initial position and disengages wheels '25 and 21, thus "stopping further movement of the belt I 5 when an article is released. The contacts Zlland 2| are used for a price indication, as will be described later on in connection with Fig. 3a and Fig. l. The contact I9 is used to operate a message register 29 of a type similar to that used in telephone practice. This message register 29 is operated from earth over contact [9, register 2 9 to battery once each time an article is released from the storage belt [5, thus indicating d articles issued from a'particular bin.

Trailer contacts, so an fa are providedjfor The lever 25 keeps the irectly the number of I each bin to give an indication whenever the stock in therespective bin falls low -or is ex* hausted. The trailer contact 30 lights an indication lamp 32 when no more, articles pass underneath it, warning the attendants that the stock is nearly exhausted. When the last article has leftthe bin contact 3] is closed and operates a no stock lamp ('4in Figs. 1 and 3a) over the leads 33 and Has shown inmo're detail in 3a. This :10 stock lamp lights whenever a bin has been selected by an operator, and the article is not available.

Details of the electrical circuits used for the selection and release of articles fromthe various ten keys is used for the selection oi articles from one group cbm rising one hundred bins. Only the keys representing the digitsil (2) and (0-) for one group are shown to simplify the diaram, and it must be understood that the circuits for the remaining keys and the corresponm ing relays are connectedin the same manner. The relays are marked with capital letters and the relay contacts themselves are marked with a small letter corresponding to the capital letter (BID, up to Jl .Jlil and the 'nun-rerical .pre'fixesin the references correspond with the referenceson Fig. 2. Although the contact arrangements for the release mechanisms Ale and Jill only are shown in full detail corresponding-ftp the arrangement shownin Fig. it m'us'tbe understood that-all release mechanisms for thelvarious binsare built alike. for exampl'e'magnets zaAln and 231310 of Fig. 3a both correspond with magnet 23 of Fig. 2.

The magnets 23Al to 2 3AI-0 indicate the first row of bins; magnets ,2'3Bl to 23B") indicate the second row, and magnets 23J l to -23Jl0 indicate: the last row, corresponding to different bins from which articles can be selected 'by the onerow of keys as will be described in detail.

As a two digit stock number is necessary'to. dispense articles from-one ;bi-n group, selecting;

. (0), the,cancel key 5, the busy he-, I YjK-W it acontaotikl, closesthejci-rv sta es 7 cuit for the relay L which in turn prepares over its contact H a circuit for the relay M.

When the operator releases the key (1) in readiness to key-up the second digit, earth is removed from the upper winding of relay A and relay K. Relay A remains energised over its second winding but relay K is de-energised and its contact kl falls back again. As the relay L is a slow release relay its contact H is still closed when the contact kl falls back and thus a circuit is completed momentarily for the relay M which operates from earth over contact-kl, contact ii. relay M to battery; and via its make contact mm. break contact a of the cancel key 5 and the break contact pl closes a holding circuit over its second winding to which battery is connected, as shown. The busy lamp 3 lights up over the make contact ml l to indicate that a selection of articles is in progress. The change-over contacts ml to mlO connected with the keys (1) to (0) are all switched over and thus connect the keys (1) to (0) directly with the common leads representing the digit values 1 to 0 and connected with the contacts of the relays A to J.

When the operator presses now the key (0) to select the second digit, earth is placed over this key and operated contact mlfl on the common lead representing the digit 0 and via this lead and the previously closed contact all! and lead 33 on the magnet 23AM corresponding to the stock number of the article to be dispensed. The magnet 23All3 closes its contact all! and thus provides a circuit from battery over its sec- 0nd or holding winding, contact am, the trip contact 22M 0, lead 31, the relay N and the break contact 51) of key 5 to earth, so that magnet 23Alll remains operated when the key (0) is released again.

The relay N via its contact nl operates the slow release relay 0 which prepares over its con- 4 tact o! a circuit for the relay P.

Furthermore, the magnet 23AM operates the clutch mechanism (shown in detail in Figs. 2, 2a and 2b) to connect the common driving means with the storage belt l5 (Fig. 2) of the particular bin thus moving the selected article fol-war until it falls out on to a collector belt 9 (Fig. 2) at the same time operating a trip lever mechanism l8 (Fig. 2).

As soon as the selected article has been discharged from the bin and has operated the trip lever mechanism, th contact 22am (Fig. 3a) is interrupted momentarily thus interrupting the holding circuit of the magnet ZSAlS, which releases its armature, opening contact 24am and stopping the storage belt and furthermore releasing the relay N which now energises the relay P over its contact RI and the closed contact 0!. This relay at its break contact pl removes earth from the cancel key 5 and thus interrupts the holding circuits for the relays M and A. The function of contact 102 will be described later. The slow release relay 0 then releases as its circuit is interrupted at contact TH and thus deenergises relay P, so that the whole selecting circuit is restored to normal.

Any other digit or digit combination representing another stock number can be set up in the same way. If the first digit is, for example, the digit 2, relay B would be operated instead of relay A and then the selection of the second digit would operate one of the magnets 2313i to 23310. Any other method of selecting bins may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention,-forexample-a step by step or other this item. The same selector switch system whether under control of a register or of an operator directly. As already shown in connection with Fig. 2 each bin is connected with a message register to indicate the quantity of articles discharged from each bin. These message registers are shown for two bins in Fig. 3a as the registers are operated over the contacts lealll and 197' I0 respectively, when an article operates the corresponding trip mechanism. Although only two registers are shown, all the bins can be equipped in the same way.

In the case the selected article, for example with the stock number 10, is out of stock, the corresponding trailer contact 3mm (contact 31 in Fig. 2) is closed. When the magnet 23A"! is energised a circuit is closed over its second winding, its contact 240.10, contact 3lal0, lead 33, no

, stock lamp 4 to earth, lamp 4 lights up and thus indicates to the operator that this selected item is not available.

The operator then presses the cancel key 5, thus momentarily interrupting at contacts 5a and 5b the circuit already set up for the selection of operation is performed whenever a selection shall be cancelled before the selected article has left the bin.

When it is desirable to make a record of the stock number of each dispensed article and the price thereof a recording and printing device (It in Fig. 1) can be provided as shown schematically in Fig. 4. Such devices are known in themselves and are for example used in a calculating machine as described in Brit. Pat. No. 314,026. The

printer 56 consists of rows of 10 magnets for example 55, 5! up to 52 and prints 3. digit determined by the magnet which is energised. It will be clear that the operation of the keys in Fig. 3 can be used to operate such a mechanism to record the number at the printer. This is done by connecting the back contacts of the relay contacts ml, m2 to mm (Fig. 3) to the magnets 50, Si up to 52 in Fig. 4 as shown by the connecting leads M, 45, 45. Thus the first digit is printed. The front contacts of the relay contacts ml, m2 to mid in Fig. 3 are connected via the leads 41, Z8, 49 to the next row of 10 magnets 53, 54 to 55 of printer Se in Fig. 4 thus printing the second digit. In this way the stock number will be printed on a card. (The printing of a preliminary digit indicated by the row of keys chosen has not been shown in the drawing. It will be clear that another row of magnets such as 56, 5| each operated from one of the various relays M, associated with the various rows of keys, can be provided to print the preliminary digit.)

The trip mechanism l8 (Fig. 2) operates contacts 25 and 2|, as mentioned before. These contacts are again shown for two bins in Fig. 3:1 as contacts 20MB, 25110 and Hall], 21710. A third row of 10 printing magnets 56, 51 to 58 (Fig. 4) (total of say 20 for prices up to 20 shillings) are wired to terminals 6'! on a jumpering frame for example similar to that in a telephone exchange and every stock bin has two terminals wired to the other side 68 of the jumpering frame, as indicated by wires 35AM, 36A! and 35Jl0, 36MB leading to the abovementioned contacts in Fig. 3a. Another set of l l terminals on the jumpering frame is wired similarlyto the next row of H magnets Ell. -51 to 52 on the printer and this row of magnets prints the pence column. The connections shown by nets from rightto' left). When for-example the the dotted lines 69 and 10 represent the price of 1s. 11d. (counting the mag- 

